Spring Convocation 2010

Spring Convocation 2010

Retention, Engagement, & Community

Spring Convocation included an update
from the Chancellor’s Task Force on
Student Retention and Success. At the
Juneau Campus General Assembly of
Faculty and Staff Monday morning (January
11, 2010) members Sol Neely, Wendy
Girven and Jill Dumensil presented some
of the initial findings of the group tasked
with identifying ways to keep more students
engaged in campus life and ultimately,
graduating from UAS.

Student testimony to the group identified
lack of campus community as the main issue.
English faculty Sol Neely said the alienation
felt by some students could be ameliorated
with more opportunities for student activism
and campus solidarity. He acknowledged
such goals could be, “hard to engender with
distance education.”

Proposed solutions included an Events
coordinator position, first year experience/
freshman seminar, opportunities for service
learning, civic engagement and student
leadership and a campus book project.* (see
related article)

Following the presentation, student
Gloria Anderstrom provided an inspiring
example of a student engaged in creating
community at UAS and whose education
is providing her an avenue for activism. On
behalf of the Cultural Infusion Committee,
Anderstrom did a command performance of
a talk that won first place at the 2009 Native
Oratory competition held at UAA. “UAS
is one of a kind in that it really embraces
the Native Culture and the values of the
Native people,” she said. “The truth is
all universities are on Native land but the
difference is UAS really embraces that.”

Anderstrom gave a presentation about
environmental damage and tainted
subsistence shellfish resulting from debris
left behind by military activities near
her hometown of Yakutat during World
War 2. The damage is linked to cancer
clusters in Yakutat. Anderstrom’s mother
recently died of breast cancer. Anderstrom
encouraged the UAS community to get
involved with groups working to clean up
the damage left by WW2 in Alaska such as
Alaska Community Action on Toxics and
the Yakutat Tribe. “No one is going to do
something about this than us,” she said.